They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Susan McBride's "Very Bad Things"

Susan McBride is the USA Today bestselling author of Blue Blood and four other award-winning Debutante Dropout Mysteries from HarperCollins/Avon, including The Good Girl's Guide To Murder, The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club, Night Of The Living Deb, and Too Pretty To Die. A sixth title, Say Yes to the Death, will be out in September 2015. McBride has another series with Avon that debuted in May 2014, the River Road Mysteries, starting with To Helen Back and followed by Mad as Helen (July 2014) and Not a Chance in Helen (September 2014).

Here McBride dreamcasts an adaptation of her young adult thriller, Very Bad Things:

Oh, how I would love to see what a director could do with Very Bad Things, considering the story unravels from three different character’s points of view, one of whom may be a killer. I’d vote for Chris Columbus to take it on as I think he did an amazing job with the first two Harry Potter films. Casting the movie would be a challenge as I haven’t really seen much TV or film in the past two or three years because of book deadlines and having a baby (now a full-fledged, tantrum-throwing toddler—yay!). But I did some sleuthing online and spied a few faces that might work.

This guy would make a perfect Mark Summers: Nicholas Hoult, the ex-boyfriend of Jennifer Lawrence. He might have to lighten his hair, but I read that he’s 6’ 3” so I could picture him as the hockey jock that steals Katie’s heart and was the last to see Rose Tatum alive.

As for Katie Barton…hmm, my first instinct is Shailene Woodley. Katie’s pretty, but not a great beauty. She loves poetry and she’s a little shy, but she’s way stronger than people think. Figuring out what happened to Rose and who did it definitely tests her mettle.

The character I’m finding hardest to cast is Tessa Lupinski. She’s Katie’s best friend—and no friend of Mark’s—and she’s small but mighty. She’s suffered a lot so she’s put up a wall around herself. Because of that, other students at Whitney Prep think she’s a bit of a bitch. Maybe Elizabeth Olsen could do the part justice, although she’d have to play down her looks.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin